Long Beach man admits guilt in Disneyland dry ice bomb explosions

FULLERTON >> An ex-Disneyland worker from Long Beach who set off two dry-ice bombs in the Anaheim theme park, forcing a partial evacuation, admitted his guilt Monday and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and keep away from his former place of employment.

In pleading guilty to misdemeanor possession of a destructive device, Christian Isaiah Barnes accepted a plea bargain from Orange County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Thompson, who also sentenced the defendant to time served in jail — 36 days — and placed him on three years of informal probation.

The 23-year-old Long Beach resident must stay 100 yards away from Disneyland, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Barnes was initially charged with a felony count of possession of a destructive device in a public place, which could have led to six years in prison had he gone to trial and been convicted.

The first explosion happened about 4 p.m., May 28 as Barnes was being relieved by a co-worker at a vending cart outside of Mickey’s Toontown, an area of the park generally geared toward younger children. He opened the cart, and a water bottle filled with dry ice exploded, said Farrah Emami of the D.A.’s Office.

Barnes took another water bottle filled with dry ice and put it in a trash can in Toontown, Emami said. A janitor removed the bag containing the explosive several minutes later and left it on the ground while he walked over to another trash can to empty it, Emami said. The makeshift device exploded in the meantime.

No one was injured in either explosion, but Disney officials closed down Toontown for about three hours while the rest of the park remained open.